Grenade.



A. STEINMETZ.

GRENADE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 9.1911.

Patented Aug. 20, 1918,

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JOSEPH A. STEINMETZ OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

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Specification letters Patent.

Application filed October 9, 1917. Serial No. 195,571.

To a l l'whmn it may concern:

Beit known that I, JOSEPH A. S rEINMn'rz, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Grenades, of whichthe following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention has for its object increasing the destructiveness of hand grenades carrying high explosives while avoiding danger of premature explosion.

With powerful explosives, it is found that cast iron traversed by intersecting breaking I grooves is not satisfactory for the reason that the extreme suddenness and violence of the explosion pulverizes most of-the metal or breaks it into fragments too small to be properly effective, and for this reason shells of this type are now often made of annealed metal. The fragmentation of this metal is uncertain and such shells canhot be dc.- pendcd upon to produce-invariably a very great number of pieces all adapted for destructive work. In accordance with my in veution grenades of usual or simple special type have the shell wall provided with a larger number of heavy distinct wirenails,

or short tough rods, which are scattered in every direction by the explosion.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 re resents a common form of grenade provi ed with nails'or wire fragments in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is an axial section of the same grenade.

. ferent form of shell.

Fig. 4 is a similar figure illustrating a third form of grenade.

Fig. 5 is alside view, partly in section, showing a fourth embodiment of my invenew of the grewire bands 10 lying partly in grooves which Fig. 3 shows in axial section part a dif are parallel to and at some distance from-the equatorial groove. When the grenade is tobe thrown, the operator ignite by well known means a timed Iuse shown in"- the drawing but-not in-itself a part of my invention, nor even of a preferred type, since it is not entirely safe. It is to be observed that the band 9 is pressed into, approximate conformlty witht-h e surface which it covers and that the wires, takin a straight course from nail to nail, lie in t e intermediate portion of the grooves and never accidentally getout of lace.

ere shells can be made specially, they ma be of the form shown'in Fig. 3, that is t iey may have a nearly cylindrical central portion 11 provided with a broad tircumferential recess 12 in the bottom of which are breaking grooves 13 analogous to those of Figs. 1 and 2. In this recess are placed side by side a set of long nails I4 and, outside thesc,'two sets of shorter nails 15, and the recess is closed by a band lfi'of 'tin' or other suitable material.

Patented Aug. 20,1918.

Another construction is shown in Fig. 4

thin nail-retaining band 20 although ifsuitable nails are properly inserted each 'setmay retain the other set in place. Each nail receiving; perforation is the equivalent of a breaking groove.

Figs. 5 and 6 show a grenade having a cylindrical body 21 which may be of light metal and which is surrounded by a concentric ring or band 22, and in the annular space between the two are placed two'or more sets of oppositely turned heavy nails-23 extending approximately from end to end of the cylindrical body. If the last of the mass of nails are driven into place-why strong force, asxby a hammer, all the nails will be frictionally held and no special retaining de-' vices are necessary or desirable. v v The preferred form of exploding devlces, here shown, is not of my invention, but' as m the first form such devices are illustrated to.

show that my devices donot interfere with the use of the more common'forms of gre nade devices. In several of the forms short lengths of tough wire may be ils'ed instead of nails or headed pieces. The ring" or band 22 is shown as of a width equal to a neiIs length, but obviously it may be of less width n1 even be mere ,yvire r wires.

What I el e'ir n ie:

1.. The combination with a grenade e i series of wire nails or the like distributed around the body "of the grenade,

and ii vsuitable band encircling the grenade nd holding the nails in place.

3. The combination with a grenade having en external equatorial breaking groove with nail-receiving perforations extending oppositely from said groove, and a band covering said greove and preventing accidental escape of any nail which may be in any perforation.

4. The combination with a suitable grenade end a larger readily ruptured, concentne ring, of a series of distinct lengths of wire placed in the annular ep the grenade and ring.

5. The combination, with a suitable grenade and a. larger concentric ring, of a series of distinct short teughrods foreed lintef 11d a )p-r0xi-mately filling the annular repute between the grenade and ring and efEiCtiOllflli) retaiiied'in p1eee.-- U

In testimony w'hereei 1- hereunto affixmy signature.

ace between JOSEPH A. STEINMETZ. 

